Susan Shroder

Susan Shroder is a Virginia native who came west for college and then moved to the Midwest for her first journalism job. She’s a summa cum laude graduate of California State University Fresno, where she helped pay her college bills by giving tours at The Fresno Bee. Shroder covered state government for United Press International in Lincoln, Neb., and was later UPI bureau manager in Omaha, where she occasionally camped out during snow and ice storms. She was happy to return to sunny California as bureau manager for UPI in San Diego, and three years later joined the U-T. She’s been a reporter and editor at the U-T, and has covered breaking and public safety news since 2007.

Stories by Susan Shroder

OCEANSIDE  A sheriff's sergeant was dragged a short distance and injured during a vehicle stop Monday night, but he was still able to arrest the suspect, a sheriff's official said. The sergeant had stopped a vehicle at state Route 76 and Frazee Road in Oceanside about 10 p.m., sheriff's Lt. Jim Walker said. Authorities said the sergeant thought the driver was under the influence and wanted him to get out of the car. When ...

San Diego  Fifteen vehicles were set on fire Monday night at an Otay Mesa junkyard, the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department reported. Firefighters responded about 8:20 p.m. to Hulio's Towing and Storage on Harvest Road at Otay Center Drive, about a half-mile north of the U.-S. Mexico border. Three vehicles were on fire in a hard-to-reach area when firefighters arrived, fire Capt. Joe Amador said. The blaze spread to the other vehicles, but firefighters were ...

San Diego  At least four people were injured Friday night in an accident on Interstate 15 north near state Route 56, authorities said. The incident was reported about 9:50 p.m. Four people were transported to hospitals, one of them a major trauma, a San Diego Fire-Rescue Department dispatcher said. According to the California Highway Patrol website, as many as six vehicles were possibly involved. At least one caller to the CHP reported that two ...

San Diego  San Diego police gang detectives are investigating a shooting Friday night in City Heights. A 20-year-old man was shot three times about 7:30 p.m. in the west alley of Van Dyke Avenue, near Landis Street. He was struck in both legs and the abdomen, police Officer Robert Heims said. He was transported to a hospital and is expected to survive, the officer said. The shooting apparently followed an argument, police said. Witnesses ...

San Diego  A University of California San Diego student has been missing since about 10 p.m. Sunday, and campus police and San Diego police are looking for him. UCSD police on Thursday issued a bulletin about the disappearance of Wilton Mak and released a photograph of him. He lives off campus near Westfield University Towne Centre mall. His roommates said he left without taking his cellphone, wallet, or vehicle. Mak was last seen wearing ...

LEMON GROVE  An after-school assistant at Lemon Grove Academy was arrested following bizarre acts that endangered some of the elementary school's students, the Sheriff’s Department said Thursday. Students used the assistant's unattended campus radio to call for help about 4 p.m. Wednesday after the aide, Linda Lira, 31, barricaded herself and several children in a classroom, sheriff’s Lt. Chris May said. Staff briefly fought with her while students were evacuated, May said. Lira then ...

San Diego  A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted a Border Patrol supervisor on 19 counts related to a hidden camera he admitted installing in a women’s bathroom at the agency’s station in Chula Vista. Armando Gonzalez, 46, was arrested earlier this month and had pleaded not guilty in federal court to a felony count of making a false statement and a misdemeanor count of video voyeurism. A federal prosecutor said at the time ...

San Diego  Three veterans of the San Diego Police Department were honored Wednesday at the fifth annual Women in Blue luncheon. The event is sponsored by the San Diego Police Foundation, a nonprofit organization that raises funds to help the department, including for equipment, training and community outreach. “The stories of women leaders in law enforcement continue to impart wisdom that is both inspiring and practical, providing role models for young people aspiring to ...

SPRING VALLEY  A man was fatally struck by a vehicle Wednesday night on southbound state Route 125, the California Highway Patrol said. The pedestrian was hit south of Jamacha Road about 6:40 p.m. CHP officers, firefighters and paramedics performed CPR. The man died at the scene, CHP Officer Mary Bailey said. According to the CHP’s incident website, a caller reported the man had been walking on the shoulder and appeared to jump out in ...

San Diego  A 74-year-old woman suffered life-threatening injuries when she was struck by an SUV Tuesday night in Mira Mesa, San Diego police said. The woman stepped into a marked crosswalk at Camino Ruiz and Reagan Road about 6:20 p.m. when she was hit by a Toyota Highlander turning right onto Camino Ruiz, police Officer Robert Heims said. The driver of the Toyota, a 60-year-old man, had stopped at the red light at the ...

SOLANA BEACH  Sheriff’s officials on Tuesday night released new details about the brazen on-campus attempted abduction of a 7-year-old girl at a Solana Beach elementary school, and released a composite sketch of the suspect, who was seen by teachers and staff. Authorities initially said they did not think the girl was physically assaulted by the man. But after being able to talk to the victim on Tuesday, they learned that she fought the suspect ...

San Diego  A San Diego man who said he is a rabbi has been accused by federal officials of posing as an attorney and CPA and preparing fraudulent tax returns and advising clients of bogus tax schemes. The federal government has filed a civil injunction lawsuit in U.S. District Court in San Diego against Lawrence Preston Siegel, who officials said also goes by the names Larry Lave, Yehuda Lave and Larry Easy, the Department ...

LAKESIDE  Heartland firefighters quickly extinguished a blaze that broke out in a Lakeside riverbed Monday night. The fire was reported about 9 p.m. near Lakeside Avenue and Channel Road. Multiple callers reported seeing 30-foot flames, a Heartland fire dispatcher said, but no homes were threatened. "It was just very visible," she said. The blaze was knocked down in about 20 minutes. The cause was being determined. There are transient camps in the riverbed area, ...

SOLANA BEACH  The Sheriff's Department is investigating the attempted abduction of a 7-year-old girl Monday afternoon at a Solana Beach elementary school. Witnesses reported seeing a man about 3:30 p.m. on the grounds of Skyline Elementary on Lomas Santa Fe Drive, near Stevens Avenue. Details of what occurred were not released, but sheriff's Sgt. Joe Montion said the girl was never physically touched or harmed. School had just let out for the day, he ...

SPRING VALLEY  A Spring Valley woman who had been missing since walking away from her home on Wednesday has been found, Sheriff's Department officials said. Linda Adene Snow-Biggers, 53, was found Saturday but the department did not provide any details about where she was located. She was unharmed. The Sheriff's Department issued a missing-person bulletin for Snow-Biggers after she left the residence where she lives with her husband on Sweetwater Road, near Valley Road. ...